aicep | The future is Lisbon

According to a study by the American company Cognizant: “Lisbon was chosen from more than 150 cities around the world, as one of the 21 places of the future”, positioning itself as one of the three European cities that make up the final list.The evaluation concluded that Lisbon is a “sophisticated city”, which stands out for the quality of its universities, infrastructure and security, for its access to private capital, for having a stable local government / administration and for being a sustainable city.

The Portuguese capital was highlighted for “being a place where it is easy to work”, for its cultural and entertainment offer and one for being home to a ‘pool’ of talents, as well as for presenting a good standard and cost of living.

In addition to Lisbon, the study distinguished cities such as Tel Aviv (Israel), São Paulo (Brazil), Wellington (New Zealand), Dundee (Scotland), Toronto (Canada), Atlanta, Sacramento and Portland (USA), Kochi (India), Songdo (South Korea), Tallinn (Estonia), Shenzhen and Haidian, Beijing (China), Nairobi (Kenya), Lagos (Nigeria) and Da Nang (Vietnam). In addition to these 17 cities, the list includes four places with “no specific physical location”, namely, Remotopia, Virtual Space, Outer Space and Nova Hanseatica.

We identified Lisbon as a focus for global innovation and new ideas, which will certainly create and drive the future of work. The fourth industrial revolution and the pandemic are transforming the economy on a global scale and new talents, new skills and new attitudes are needed,” said Manuel Ávalos, Cognizant general director for southern Europe.

As the company explained, ‘21 places of the future’ is a roadmap “that allows businesses, governments and businesses to learn from the success of other expanding places”.

To carry out this study, Cognizant, “using the metaphor of an atom”, analysed the nuclei and electrons of each place, creating an “atom of success” for each of the cities and places. “In the centre are three well-defined elements that are considered essential for the success of each city: local government, quality of schools and universities and access to private capital. However, each nucleus needs electrons around it. In the study, electrons are made up of eight components: physical infrastructure, environment (sustainability), lifestyle (diversity and inclusion), culture and entertainment, “bricks” (architecture), “clicks” (digital infrastructure), talent groups and accessibility”, he said.

The assessment also included data from the World Economic Forum, ESI ThoughtLab and the Global Justice.